Jeffrey Epstein's Ties To Scientists Were More Extensive Than We Thought

According to a new, extensive report by BuzzFeed, Jeffrey Epstein’s connections to the science world — including large donations to famous researchers and universities after he was convicted in 2008 for soliciting an underage girl for prostitution — ran deeper than previously believed.

Though Epstein’s ties to the Edge Foundation’s John Brockman and other intellectual elites have already been scrutinized and reported on, the BuzzFeed article reveals that the amount of money he donated may have been millions of dollars higher than previously reported, and mathematical biologist Martin Nowak and physicist Lawrence Krauss continued to introduce him to other scientists after his release from jail.

Nowak didn’t respond to the publication’s request for comment about his personal ties to Epstein, but he did address the fact that his Program for Evolutionary Economics at Harvard received $6.5 million from the financier. “The only donation from Epstein was received in 2003,” he said. “The money was spent by about 2007.” Krauss declined to comment.

Evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers once defended Epstein and his crimes to Reuters by saying, “Did he get an easy deal? Did he buy himself a light sentence? Well, yes, probably, compared to what you or I would get, but he did get locked up. By the time [girls are] 14 or 15, they’re like grown women were 60 years ago, so I don’t see these acts as so heinous.” He apologized for those comments in July, calling them “a stupid and offensive statement by me,” and claimed that he hadn’t been in contact with Epstein for 18 months.

Epstein also donated $800,000 to MIT, something university president Rafael Reif has apologized for and sought to correct. “We will commit an amount equal to the funds MIT received from any Epstein foundation to an appropriate charity that benefits his victims or other victims of sexual abuse,” he said.

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